Days 6 and 7- Petrified Forest and Painted Desert NP, and Santa Fe

Our last full day on the road and I was starting to get that end of vacation sadness.  I wanted to go back to day 1, and do it all over again.  We spent our last day touring Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Park, both beautiful in an understated way.  The highlight for me was the Painted Desert Inn, which had its heyday in the late 30s and 40s. Today it has been beautifully restored and serves as a visitor center overlooking sweeping views of the Painted Desert.  I must admit, while planning this trip the words “painted” and “desert” evoked wildly romantic notions of an artist's desert that was alive and dancing with color.  I even bought a new shirt prior to our trip, merely on the notion that "it would go with the Painted Desert".  The reality was no disappointment, and I can only imagine what secrets she reveals at sunset.  Someday I will have to go back to experience this.

 

We spent our last night at a ridiculously, almost obnoxiously large resort just north of Santa Fe.  But it sure was nice.  At check-in I heard the magical words “automatic upgrade to our suite” and we took the elevator up to our palace on the 5^th floor.  The door opened to a huge living room and dining room, with southwestern décor, kiva fireplace and balcony.  Connected was the bedroom, with another kiva fireplace, balcony, and second bathroom with a soaking tub and separate glass shower.  What a way to end a fantastic road trip!

  

Petrified Forest NP

Painted Desert Inn

Ahhh... the Painted Desert

Our insanely nice room in Santa Fe, or at least half of it!

My favorite meal in the Southwest- chile rellanos, sopapillas with honey, and a margarita

Enjoying the pool at the Santa Fe resort

Day 4- Grand Canyon and Sunset Crater National Monument

There was a distinct shift in weather as we headed southwest towards Grand Canyon’s south rim.  It didn’t get cold right away, but the wind and clouds spoke of what was to come.  Sneaking in the back way, we made our way into Grand Canyon NP at the less popular East Entrance.  By the time we reached the first viewpoint, already late in the day, the cold had infiltrated.  Bundling up in hats and winter coats it was hard to believe less than 24 hours ago we were laying out in our bathing suits by the pool.  Such is the reality of spring. 

We two nights at the Masawik Lodge (the only lodge with availability back in January when we booked), located a quick ¼ mile walk from the rim.  Our room was dated, but clean, quiet, and serene on the 2^nd floor, looking out into the ponderosa pines.  The lodge also contained a massive cafeteria which I quickly discounted, mentioning “oh, maybe we’ll eat there once…”  We ended up eating there not once, not twice, but FIVE times during our stay.  The cold brought with it an insatiable hunger that demanded retro comfort foods not often indulged in, such as tuna melts, onion rings, pancakes, and meatloaf.  In fact, the next day we spent most of our time alternating between hot meals at the cafeteria, naps in our room, TV watching, and brief trips out to the rim hoping to catch a peak of the sun.  As the cold wind howled, kicking up dust and dirt, we gave up on any plans to hike below the rim.  Around 4 pm the snow began and closed in one the canyon.  We watched from the historic Kolb Gallery, perched precariously on the rim.  The warmth of the gallery matched with the Native flute music that they piped out helped diminish any disappointments from the weather, as we bought books and souvenirs from the Grand Canyon, already planning in our minds our next trip back. 

We got up early Thursday, searching for a sunrise that would not be.  We left Grand Canyon with a still present biting wind, and headed for hopefully better weather back in the desert.  Leaving Flagstaff we made a quick stop to stretch our legs at Sunset Crater National Monument, containing a volcano that erupted a mere thousand years ago.  We jumped on I-40 and drove east to Holbrook, our stop for the evening on the historic Route 66.

Our first Grand Canyon View, Desert View at East Entrance

All bundled up!

Glimpses of sun

Stopping for a hot meal in Flagstaff

Sunset Crater National Monument

A hike through lava fields

Dinner in Holbrook on historic Route 66

The Wigwam Hotel

Day 3- Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon

Leaving Monument Valley we continued our drive west towards Page, Arizona and Lake Powell.  We left the spiritual simplicity of the reservation and entered more of a traditional resort atmosphere.  Our stop for the night was Lake Powell Resort and Marina.  We were again wowed by an awesome view, this time of the lake and resort’s pool and marina.  We enjoyed drinks by the pool that, amazingly, we had to ourselves.  The sun was warm and it felt like vacation.  We dreamed about coming back and renting a boat to explore the lake.  We dreamed about coming back when August was older, a full grown kid, doing cannonballs into the pool.  Ahhh, the life of a vacationer!

The next day we drove to lower Antelope Canyon, back on Navajo land.  What appears to be nothing more than a crevice in the ground opens up to a glowing orange gallery of narrow, sensuous, curving sandstone walls, accessed by multiple vertical ladders.  It takes a little over an hour to navigate the length of the slot canyon, whose walls remain cool and protected from the desert sun.  The beauty is really too much to describe or to capture in a photo, although, as it is in our nature, we try. 

 

Lake Powell Dam

View from our hotel's balcony



The resort's pool

Sunset from our hotel's balcony.

Getting ready for another day of adventure!

Antelope Canyon, no words to describe...

Day 2- Monument Valley

We are pushing 75 down a road that is as empty as it is long.  Not a tree in sight, I’m reminded of one of my favorite Dr. Seuss lines, “it’s opener there, in the wide open air”.  The emptiness feels liberating to me; it’s one of the reasons the desert lures me in.  Our destination for the night is Monument Valley- an over photographed and over filmed location that somehow still manages to hold mystery and wonder.  We booked a room back in January at a new Navajo hotel in the heart of the valley, fittingly named “The View”.  It’s expensive, there is no pool, no free happy hour or breakfast (in fact, no alcohol at all as it is on the reservation), but one thing it does offer really well is a view.  Every room in the hotel includes a balcony that faces the soaring mittens of Monument Valley.  There is simply no excuse not to take in the sunset, the sunrise, and the unbelievable vastness of this place.  We enjoyed the sunset while dining on local cuisine such as green chilé stew, frybread with honey, and Navajo tacos.  August was giddy with excitement, even putting up with the highchair for a late evening hour long dinner, smiling to anyone who caught his eye.  We all went to bed that night happy and excited for the morning to come. 

In the morning we suited up for the Wildcat Trail, the only hike in Monument Valley allowed without a Navajo tour guide.  We were alone out there, and the trail circumnavigating the West Mitten Butte provided us with an intimate insight into the valley not offered by our hotel balcony.  The sun was relentless, but the 60 degree spring temperature was forgiving.  We took a moment to really take in the beauty of all of it, then headed back to our room for a quick shower before hitting the road again.

 

View from our room.

Gift shop at The View hotel

Sunset from our hotel.

Dinner at The View hotel- a happy occasion!

Lobby of The View hotel.

Sunrise

Heading off on the Wildcat Trail.

Name those tracks!

The beauty of the buttes